About Me

Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata in her very own words had said about Mr Bhutoria ---
“He is a boy with a different vision altogether”. ---
Sundeep Bhutoria is a man with a mission – to make meaningful contribution to the betterment of society and to promote Indian art and culture at home and abroad.
Born in Churu in the Shekhawati region of India’s desert state of Rajasthan, Sundeep is very well known in the social, literary, diplomatic and the political circles in India.
A globetrotter, Mr Bhutoria straddles across worlds and wears many caps – a popular youth icon, tireless social worker and activist, ardent admirer of Indian art and culture, a successful businessman - he is engaged in many UNA projects holding key positions. He is closely associated with many social welfare organisations and trusts.
He loves to read,writes columns in dailies, plays the violin and enjoys playing golf and watching polo. He lives in Kolkata (India) with his wife Manjari but divides his time between Rajasthan, Delhi and London each year.
In a short time he has achieved many milestones and recognitions.

October
27, 2015: The Sindoor
Khelaevent
was extensively covered by the print and electronic media with
television channels beaming the colourful pageantries – smearing of
vermillion, chauand
dragon dance etc., to the beats of the dhak.

The
event was covered live by three television channels and I also got a
message that the event was covered by a newspaper far away in the
Gulf.

At the condolence meet of Late B D Sureka

After
the Sindoor
Khela,
I also attended the condolence meeting of Bishwambhar Dayal Sureka
known in Kolkata society as BD.

B
D Sureka had expired while I was overseas. I went to his residence
also to express my condolence to his family. OnSunday
afternoon I attended the public condolence meet hosted and organized
at theBharatiya
Bhasha Parishad.

With
the passing away of B D Sureka, the last linkto
the line of my mother’s era has ended. He was a family friend, a
well-wisher and a strong supporter of my various social initiatives.
I am flying today for a day to Thailand for a meeting with theWFUNAofficials.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

October
25, 2015: After theDhak
Mahotsav,
I went overseas for a week and returned to Kolkata to have a couple
of days to enjoy the
Pujas.
Today
morning there was the Sindoor
Khela
at the Manicktalla
Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja.

With Chief Guest Moon Moon Sen

Like
the other years, it
was
a big draw as usual with the
Chief Guest Moon Moon Sen and a host of other lady celebrities from
the glamour and other walks of life participating actively in the
event. Like last year this year also the Sindoor
Khela
was presented by Vodafone.

The
day, however, began on a sad note when I got a phone call informing
about the shocking news of the death of actor Piyush Ganguly who had
met with an accident on October 20 and had since then been fighting
for his life in a city hospital. He succumbed to his injuries in the
morning. I pray his soul rests in peace.

Adding
to my worries was the news that one of my acquaintances, Malabika
Sen, the wife of Late Sumit Sen, resident editor of the Times
of India
in Kolkata, had also been seriously injured in the accident and
surgeries performed. I thanked God that she was out of danger.

Many
of the participants in the Sindoor
Khela 2015
were from the film and television industry who called up to say that
they would attend the event a tad late. Finally the event went off
well with all the guests attending it and participating
enthusiastically. The head of Vodafone in eastern region, Anand
Sahai, was there with his wife. ITC
Sonar
arranged for the food and catering which is very rare for a puja
pandal
in Kolkata.

The
Chaltabagan
Puja 2015
went off very well with Dhak
Mahotsav, Puja Parikrama
and Sindoor
Khela.
The theme of supporting sustainable development was in sync with the
UN's recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda declared at
the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2015.

The
Chaltabagan
Puja
this year used over two lac bio-degradable coconut shells to decorate
the pandal. The laser lighting and other effects made it all the more
magical. The puja was very well attended by the crowds.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

October 14, 2015: Last week I was in
Kolkata preparing for various functions of Puja. On October 10th
evening I attended the dinner at Crystal Hall, Taj Bengal, to
meet and greet Dr Shashi Tharoor and Mr Omar Abdullah, thanks to
Imran Zaki for inviting me.

On Sunday (October 11) the much-awaited
Durga Puja of Manicktalla Chaltabagan was flagged off by the Governor
of West Bengal, His Excellency, Shri Keshri Nath Tripathi, today
afternoon with the inauguration of Dhak Mahotsav 2015 at the
ITC Sonar's Sunderban Lawns. This year the chief guest was
Bengal's leading actor Dev and the event was in association with
Kutchina and ITC Sonar.The dhak mahotsavevent has become
a signature event of Kolkata pujas.

Like the past Governors, the
present Governor too, for the second year in succession, started his
Puja campaign in the city from our event by playing the traditional
dhak (drum) of Bengal with leading drummers and tabla exponents
Bickram Ghosh and Tanmoy Bose.Like earlier years, the novelty of dhak
mahotsavevent this year was the strong attendance of
celebrities, diplomats, industrialists and performing artistes and
musicians of national repute along with a strong media presence. I
was wondering if it'd might rain today but surprisingly it turned out
to be a very sunny and painfully hot for an outdoor event. The dhak
mahotsavalso had display of traditional dhunuchi naach.

This is the 73rd Puja celebrations of
Manicktalla Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja. This year's
theme is the amalgam of tradition and modernity conveying an
environment-friendly message of “Sustainable Development” and the
use of bio-degradable materials like coconut shells for decorating a
pandal in the shape of a huge earthen lamp.

On 25 September, 2015, 193 countries of
the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2020
Development Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
agenda. The use of environment-friendly coconout is in keeping with
the spirit of the new UN agenda of SDGs.

With Utsav Parekh, Atul Bhalla and Mrs Nilangi Parekh

Master craftsman Sutanu Maity and his
team of artisans from Digha and Contai have been working for the past
five months to create decorative items out of coconut shells to be
used in decorating the puja pandal of Chaltabagan Durga Puja.The artisans have demonstrated how the environment-friendly coconut
shells can be used as spectacular art work for decorating the puja
pandal.A series of events like the Puja
Parikramafor the senior citizens of Kolkata and Sindoor Khelawill be organized and hosted by Chaltabagan Durga Puja.I shall be leaving for overseas today and
will try to return before pujas.ess bee

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

October
6, 2015: I went to Lal
Bazaar
in the afternoon today and had a meeting with the Commissioner of
Police and other officials regarding Puja related events and other
related issues.

As the Pujas
arrive, which is one of the biggest event of Bengal and perhaps of
India, the whole state of West Bengal and India soaks up into a
session of festive spirit.

Yesterday
I had a meeting at the ITC
Sonar
for the forthcoming Dhak
Mahotsav
event of Manicktalla
Chaltabagan Durga Puja
on Sunday, October 11, 2015.

With Mr Olaf Inversen, Consul General, FRG Kolkata

Last
Sunday (Oct 4) was a rest day for me after a long time after a hectic
Saturday (Oct 3). I attended a lunch at The
Taj Bengal
to mark the 25thAnniversary
of The
Day of German Unity
hosted by Olaf Iversen, Consul General of the Federal Republic of
Germany.

With Mr Ma Zhanwu, Consul General PRC

In
the evening I hosted a dinner for the Ma Zhanwu, the incoming Consul
General of The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China
in Kolkata. I have good relations with almost all the diplomatic
missions in Kolkata and I keep hosting welcome and farewells for
them.

I
also invited
my
old friend Gautam Lewis and his mother Dr
Patricia
Lewis at the dinner. Gautam Lewis is a man of stupendous
achievements.

He was born in the streets of Kolkata in 1977 and
contracted polio at the age of three and abandoned by his parents at
the age of seven.

With Dr Patricia Lewis, Sakshi Agarwal and Gautam Lewis at Taj Bengal

He
was adopted by Dr Patricia Lewis, a British nuclear physicist from
Mother Teresa's orphanage in Kolkata. Gautam went on to study at the
Hill
House School
in England where the children of the rich and famous went.

With Sarah Sandhu

He graduated
from South Hampton University and pursued a successful career in
music. But soon quit to set up Freedom
in the Air(FITA)
flying school for the disabled in UK.

Gautam
himself is among the few and first disabled commercial pilots of the
world. He has also been a Unesco
ambassador for the Global Polio Eradication initiative.

Post
dinner had a meeting in Alipore and at 11:30 pm. I went to Shisha
for a birthday party for my actress friend Rachana Banerjee. There I
met quite a few people from Tollywood
after a long time.

Friday, October 2, 2015

October
2, 2015: I returned to Kolkata from Jaipur yesterday and todaymorning
attended the Golden
Jubileecelebrationsof
Sujangarh
Nagarik Parishadat
theVidya
Mandirauditorium
as their Chief Guest.

Jaipur
was once again veryhectic.
Instead of morning, I reached Jaipur on the evening of September 30.
From 6 pm onwards I attending meetings at a stretch.

With Namita Gokhale

Yesterday, after
having onemeeting,
there was another meeting with the representatives of DNAnewspaper.After
that, I hosted a lunch for Namita Gokhale who was in Jaipur to attend
the Kalamseries
as the guest author.

At the lunch I hosted for Namita Gokhale

After
lunch, I attended the Kalamevent
that is presented by Shree
Cement
andorganized
by Prabha
Khaitan Foundation
in association with leading daily Dainik
Bhaskar, We Care
and
Mariott.

I
left for the airport before the event concluded in order to catch my
flight back to Kolkata.